Fellowship news

Throughout the year we will share the latest news in HIV, viral hepatitis, oncology/haematology, respiratory and invasive fungal disease, which will include updates from projects supported by the Gilead UK & Ireland Fellowship Programme and any key successes (eg posters, publications) arising from projects supported in previous years.

February 03 2015

Hepatitis C Coalition published ‘vision for hepatitis C’ report

In November 2014 the Hepatitis C Coalition published its future vision for hepatitis C in the UK, calling on the government to improve services to prevent further unnecessary deaths. The report titled ‘A Vision for Change in Hepatitis C’, worked with leading hepatitis C clinicians, patients and professional groups and shows that deaths from the disease have quadrupled since 1996. It warns that without earlier identification and treatment the burden of end-stage liver disease, liver cancer and liver disease deaths from hepatitis C will continue to grow for at least the next 20 years.

In response to this publication, Dr Paul Cosford, Director of the Health Protection Agency and Medical Director at Public Health England, said: “With around 160,000 people in England living with chronic hepatitis C, there is an urgent need to scale up our response and prevent more deaths and serious illness.” Recent advances in medicines have led some experts to predict that hepatitis C could be eliminated in the UK by 2030. Chair of the Coalition, Professor Mark Thursz, a Consultant Hepatologist at St Mary’s Hospital, said: “We are in a very fortunate position to have cost-effective treatments that will cure the majority of hepatitis C patients but we need to find these patients and treat them.”

The Hepatitis C Coalition set out eight recommendations within the report, including the need for the development of a clear national implementation plan, improvements in diagnosis and screening and timely access to approved medicines. Next steps involve appealing to the Department of Health to take responsibility for the implementation plan.